Chincha Islands War
The Chincha Islands War '''was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador from 1864 to 1866. The conflict began with Spain's seizure of the guano-rich Chincha Islands in one of a series of attempts by Spain, under Isabella II, to reassert its influence over its former South American colonies. The war saw the use of ironclads. Major Battles * '''Occupation of the Chincha Islands (1864) - 400 Spanish Marines land on the Chincha Islands and arrest the local governor, then raise the Spanish flag over the islands. (Spanish Victory) * Battle of Papudo (1865) - Under disguise as a neutral British ship, as well as hiding with nearby British ships, a Chilean corvette snuck up on a Spanish schooner and opened fire. After receiving the first volley, the Spanish schooner fired back, but did little damage due to injured gunners. The Chilean ship fired a second volley, then boarded and captured the ship and imprisoned the surviving Spanish crew. (Chilean Victory) * Bombardment of Valparaiso (1866) - 1 Spanish ironclad, 5 frigates, and 1 corvette take positions to bombard the Chilean port. They fired the first volley, and sank 2 Chilean ships. Afterwards they were told to fire at will, and in total the Spanish fleet sank 33 Chilean ships and caused $224,000,000 in damage to the port of Valparaiso. (Spanish Victory) * Battle of Abtao (1866) - 2 Spanish frigates lined up against 1 Peruvian frigate, 2 Peruvian corvettes, and 1 Chilean schooner. The Peruvian-Chilean fleet fired the first volley, but seemingly did no damage to the Spanish frigates. After 2 hours and 1500 shots of traded volleys, the Spanish frigates see that the Peruvian-Chilean fleet is well-protected and decide to retreat. (Peruvian-Chilean Victory) * Battle of Callao (1866) - 14 Spanish ships arrive outside of Callao, ready to bombard it. The Peruvians were ready for this attack and had already manned the nearby fort and armed their ships in port with cannons, even building 2 makeshift ironclads, and an infantry and cavalry division were called up in case of Spanish Marines. The Peruvians focused on the five Spanish frigates and one ironclad first, dealing heavy damage to them all. The main Spanish ships fell back, and the remaining ships pulled forard to take their place. They fired a volley on the Peruvian forces in the fort, damaging many buildings and a few guns inside the fort. The Peruvians fired a second volley and heavily damaged the Spanish backup ships. All Spanish ships retreated. (Peruvian Victory) Peace Treaty With all ports south of Colombia closed to them for coaling and provisioning, the Spanish fleet withdrew from patrolling the South American coastline, vacated the Chincha Islands and returned to Spain via the Philippines, completing a circumnavigation of the globe in order to do so. Spain also signed a peace treaty with the 4-nation alliance and recognized Peru as independent. Category:Wars Category:Wars after 0 AD Category:Wars after 1000 AD